The Princess and the Avatar
by whatevaforeva
Summary: Makorra AU. Tonraq was never banished from the northern water tribe, he becomes the chieftain of the water tribe and Korra's honorific is princess rather than Avatar. The water and earth Avatars died as children due to disease and assassination respectively, the next Avatar to reach maturity is orphan firebender Mako.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Much thanks to tumblr user 0fficermako for giving me the name of Mako's dragon. Her personality came largely from her name so thank you**

Chapter 1

Mako stood before the solemn Fire Sages and several members of the White Lotus. He had undoubtedly passed his firebending test. He put three masters on the floor using the 'traditional' firebending he was taught by the Sages. They had practically beaten what they called his 'primitive' form of firebending out of him and drilled him on a more formalize style.

The Fire Sages had stared him down for the past minute. Mako could hear the groans of the masters he had knocked out coming from behind him. But he couldn't turn around to check on them. He was playing chicken with the Fire Sages and the White Lotus, whoever blinked first lost. He planned on wining if it meant standing there all night.

Some of the Fire Sages looked down on him because he wasn't born in the Fire Nation. The hundred year war had ended 80 years ago and yet tension still ran hot between the nations. He wasn't sure if that was an issue he would have to address as the Avatar or whether it would naturally work itself out over time. Things had certainly gotten better in the past 80 years but that was largely due to Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. He hoped he could live up to their legacy.

It was that same legacy that gave him guts to stare down his masters for the past minute and sixteen seconds.

Finally High Sage Ozello spoke, "You only barely managed to complete your firebending test,"

_The three Fire Sages I managed to put on the floor might disagree with you._ Mako thought derisively.

Fire Sage Eiroko stepped forward interrupting whatever High Sage Ozello was about to say, "After careful consideration we have decided that it is time for you to travel to the Southern Water Tribe, there you will receive instruction on both healing arts and fighting style of waterbending,"

Mako felt triumphant, he wanted to pump his fist in the air or singe off High Sage Ozello's ridiculous mustache with a fireball. But he remained stoic, he felt that any display of emotion might add fuel to the 'how can the avatar be a common street-urchin' gossip that was spreading among some of the members of the Fire Sages. However, he did hold his head just a little higher.

His eyes trailed over to the members of the White Lotus, "When do we leave?"

"Monday, and as before I'd like to remind you that you will not be in need of any worldly possessions," Master Kazuo responded with kindness but Mako knew the subtext of his words, _don't bring your brother_. He wasn't sure if the Fire Sages looked down on him because of his mix race or because he had been homeless but he knew why he pissed off the White Lotus. He wouldn't leave his brother behind. It partially had to do with security. Protecting two people was more difficult than protecting one, but it also had to do with the idea that the Avatar must be untied from all earthly restraints blah blah blah. It was antiquated crap is what it was. Aang traveled the world with his girlfriend, her brother, and a blind runaway.

He was the Avatar now and he didn't plan on being some omnipotent God-like figure he was a human being, and human beings had family.

Mako nodded, "I'll tell my brother to pack." He turned away before any of the members of the White Lotus could object. He had decided he would not engage them. Fighting with them was pointless he would never leave Bolin behind, he didn't want them to get the idea that there had ever been any alternative.

He stepped over the groaning bodies of his trainers and walked inside the temple where he was jumped by Bolin and Baozi.

Baozi was a white dragon that he had found living among a herd of sky bison that the fire sages took care of. She had been less than a week old when he had found her and she had imprinted on him immediately. She had a tendency to curl into a ball. When he had spotted her he thought she had been an oversized steamed pork bun. When he picked her up she had curled around his neck underneath his scarf and he hadn't been able to get rid of her ever since.

She was more like house pet than a dragon. The fire sages had told him she would never stop growing, that if he live as old as Kioshi then Baozi would be the size of a house. He found that difficult to imagine considering that last week she got scared, hid behind the couch and got stuck there.

Bolin punched him in the shoulder, "So when we heading to the water tribe eh?"

Mako rubbed his arm, "You don't even know if I passed my firebending test yet."

"Of course you passed! You're a firebender what kind of firebender doesn't pass his firebending test?"

"I'm the Avatar that makes me an everything bender and the other day you spun rocks around my head and all I could do was heat them up."

"So earthbending isn't your strong point? You don't have to worry about that till after we head to the Water Tribe, and I can't wait till we get to the water tribe we've been on this island for 10 months I gotta get back in the game."

"What game is that?"

"You know," Bolin licked his fingers and then slicked his eyebrows, "the romance game."

Mako shook his head disapprovingly, "We leave Monday."

Bolin grabbed Mako by the arms and shook him, "I knew you passed your firebending test!"

Bolin hugged him tightly squishing both Pabu and Baozi in the process. They both squeaked, ran down the length of their bodies, and scurried away.

Mako patted Bolin on the back, "Alright it's no big deal, still got 3 more elements to go."

Bolin pulled back and grinned at him, "I know but Mako… I think the Water Tribe is gonna be big for us.'

Mako nodded and swung his arm around his brother's shoulders, "Hey who knows maybe you'll catch the eye of the princess, hear she's pretty hot."

"We shall marry and I shall take my rightful place on the throne as King."

Mako gave a sharp slice of his head, "Water Tribe doesn't have a king."

"I shall take my rightful place as Water Lord."

"Nope."

"I shall take my rightful place as emperor supreme."

"You know maybe we should get a quick lesson on Water Tribe history before we go."

"Whatever, as long as we get off this island. I not gonna say being around aging fire sages hasn't been fun because… it's true and I'm deeply fearful of what they would do to me if they heard me."

Mako and Bolin heard someone clear their throat, they turned and saw Fire Sage Eiroko standing behind Bolin with a stern expression on his face.

"Uuuuuuuh," Bolin stuttered pointing in a different direction, "Hey Mako do you hear that it sounds like I should… be over there." Bolin turned and walked in the opposite direction. When Mako turned back to Fire Sage Eiroko he looked amused.

Mako bowed, "Master Eiroko it has been an honor to be taught by you."

Fire Sage Eiroko returned the bow, "It has been an honor to instruct you young Avatar."

They both stood from their bows and smiled at each other, "I'm going to miss you when I head to the water tribe."

Eiroko started walking and motioned for Mako to walk besides him, "Avatar Mako I have full faith that you will become a great Avatar one day. You embody this brave new world we are facing. Some of the old Sages might hesitate to face the idea that the world is changing, but your experiences, your background will help guide you. Never forget them."

Mako nodded, "Yes Master Eiroko."

They stopped and Eiroko turned Mako to face him, "Young Avatar remember to be ever alert. That was Roku's great mistake. He let his guard down and those around him took advantage of this.

"There are unknown forces at work, remember this."

Mako nodded, "Yes Master Eiroko."

Eiroko smiled and patted him on the back, "And try to have some fun at the Water Tribe. You are sixteen after all. I hear the spirits festival is coming up soon, ask a pretty girl to go penguin sledding with you. After all it worked for Avatar Aang."

Mako nodded his head once again, he looked southward out into the ocean. He inhaled deeply, whatever was waiting for him in the Water Tribe he knew Bolin was right. It was time to get off this island.


	2. Chapter 2

One month later.

Mako lied in bed staring up at the ceiling, he could hear Bolin's soft snoring coming from besides him. He turned over and saw his brother barely hanging on to the corner of the bed while Pabu managed to take up most of the space.

He smiled to himself. Baozi opened one of her eyes from her spot on the floor. When he first found her she had been smaller than Pabu, in the span of 4 months she had doubled in size. She couldn't fly yet but she was beginning to breathe fire and since she usually liked to sleep in a ball she didn't fit comfortably on the small twin size bed with Mako but that hadn't stopped her from trying. He had delegated her to the floor but he often took pity on her.

He moved back on the bed as far as he could, Baozi lifted her head curiously watching him, he motioned for Baozi to come up with a sharp nod of his head, "Up Baozi,"

She scrambled up on top of the bed quickly, curled her claws in and rested her head and her front legs on his chest while the rest of her sprawled out besides him.

He scratched at the top of her head in the spot between her eyes and she exhaled warm air contentedly.

"I can't sleep, you wanna go for a walk?"

She lifted her head off his chest in response and licked his face he shoved her away from him and whispered, "Alright, alright let's go for a walk."

She hopped off the bed and went to get his shoes, he walked over to the closet and started getting dress. Baozi dropped his shoes on the floor next to him and curled around his feet while he changed. She did that a lot and it had taken some getting used to, in the beginning he would trip over himself but now it was just second nature to him.

He finished getting dressed and Baozi followed him outside. He looked in both direction wondering which way he should go. The temple he was staying in was in the outskirts of the city, North would take him further into town while south would take him into the wilds. He looked up at the stars, he felt relatively confidant that he could follow the stars back if he got lost, and while he was taught celestial navigation he had never actually used it in practice. He worried about running into people. It was late at night but if they did run into someone he didn't want Baozi to get scared and hide somewhere she could get stuck. She didn't deal well with strangers.

He looked back towards the city and then down at Baozi who looked at him expectantly. He shrugged, "Well what's the worst that could happen?"

Baozi figuring he had made up his mind used her small legs and started trotting southward. He followed her.

She couldn't fly yet, the monks had told him that she would be able to start flying once she was a year old and that she would start breathing fire when she 6 months old. Every once in a while she would cough and sparks would come out which startled even her. He was expecting for her to sneeze in his face and get his eyebrows singed off any day now. She was too small to actually fly but she could use her wings to lift herself off the ground if only slightly.

She had to use her wings to help herself manage the snowy terrain. She would sink if she tried to walk normally. Mako watched Baozi glide over the snow while her claws left shallow tracks on the surface. Every once in a while she would hear a mouse underneath the snow and dive head first into the snow for a snack. Most of the time she came up empty but a couple of times she managed to actually catch one. She ate the first one and offered the second one to Mako, he took it burned it to a crisp and tossed it in the air for her to catch.

Baozi tossed her head back and swallowed the mouse whole, she stood on her back legs and licked his hand in thanks when she suddenly turned her head towards the horizon. Mako followed her line of sight and saw a huge polar bear dog in the distance.

"Wow she's magnificent," he whispered to himself, his reverie broke when Baozi darted past him and ran straight for the polar bear dog. The polar bear dog saw Baozi coming towards him and ran in the opposite direction.

"Baozi wait!" he yelled running after her. The polar bear dog and Baozi both went over a hill and Mako lost sight of them.

Running in the snow slowed him down a lot, by the time he reached the top of the hill he had completely lost sight of Baozi.

He felt panic grip his chest. Baozi was not weary of the cold but she was still a dragon. If he took too long to find her she would become hypothermic and then…

He shook his head refusing entertain worst case scenario thoughts, "I'm going to find her, she's going to be okay." He told himself.

He stood on top of the hill hoping he would be able to catch sight of movement. His eyes stopped when he briefly spotted movement in the distance near a glacial lagoon. It could have just been a trick of the eyes but he had no better options so he decided to go towards the lagoon.

When he was halfway to the lagoon hints of pale orange started to tint the horizon. He cursed to himself. He hadn't realized how long they'd been out there.

He double timed it to the lagoon. As he got closer the sky became lighter and he could see shoots of different colored water coming from behind a glacier. As he walked over he could see the water glowed with colors. Blue, purple, pink, and green. Whoever was manipulating the water was making it look like what he imagined the Northern lights to look like. It was absolutely stunning. Whoever was doing this was clearly a master waterbender. They had taken a fighting style and turned it into art.

He reached the top of the glacier and he could see a woman water bending in an alcove in the lagoon. The water in the alcove reached her knees so she could move with relative ease. She looked like she was dancing as the color water swirled around her. Mako stood silent, stunned by the beauty of her performance. Admiration blossomed in his chest and he inched closer towards her. He was aware of every sound he made, he didn't want to interrupt her.

He hadn't been watching where he was going and stumbled over something. He looked down and saw a pile of clothes folded neatly on top of the glacier. He looked back up and realized the woman was half-naked. Dressed only in a bandeau top and a small pair of shorts. He had been so entranced by the woman's skill, he hadn't noticed her state of undress. But when he did he realized how beautiful she was. She had thick, long, dark brown hair that fell in waves down her back, her body moved with grace and elegance that was comparable only to acts of Gods. She left him as breathless as when he first saw the night sky unpolluted by city lights. He was as awed by her as he was of the glaciers that surrounded her, she was as beautiful as the clear blue lagoon she stood in.

She gave a sudden frustrated growl and slammed the water she was bending into a glacier. The colors seeped into the water and dissipated harmlessly. She spun away from him. She curled her fist and threw her head back, "UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH." Her voice echoed off the walls of the alcove. She stomped her foot once and buried her head in her hands. He could hear the sound of small whimpering , as though she were about to cry.

He wanted to help her, he wanted to reach out and console her. His heart ached with the need to ease her burden. He sighed in pity and her head snapped up at the sound.

He froze realizing she had caught him. He should feel shame, he had intruded on her private moment he should feel embarrassed. Instead he felt eager, she was going to turn around and look at him. He found that he wanted her to look at him very much.

She turned around slowly and looked up at him with annoyance and mild derision.

"You were watching me?" Her tone implied that she questioned his audacity and not his status as a voyeur.

"That light show was pretty impressive how'd you do that?" he said sticking his hands in his pockets.

She was livid, and her anger endeared her to him. She looked up at him with fury radiating in her big blue eyes and her lower lip stuck out in pout and all he wanted to do was scratch her behind the ear like he did with Baozi and watch her purr into his hand. He inhaled at the idea of making her purr in satisfaction, his eyes unwillingly trailed down her body. Lust quickly replaced awe. The white bandeau and small shorts barely covered her perfect body.

And God was it perfect. He imagined touching her shoulder trailing his fingers across her collarbone and down her sternum he could see her erect nipples through the material of her top and he wanted to run his thumb over them. He wanted to use his teeth to…

"See something you like?" she said interrupting his train of thought. She cocked her hip and placed her hand on her waist. He looked back up at her eyes. She looked at him with defiance, daring him to try her.

He had to bite his lip to keep from say 'Yes', instead he just raised his eyebrow at her coyly.

She rolled her eyes and started twisting the water out of her hair. He sat down at the edge of the glacier and let his legs hang off the side.

She looked up at him outraged but he spoke before she could yell, "So how is it you're not dying of hypothermia right now?" The comment on hypothermia reminded him of why he was out there. Baozi. He still hadn't found her. Fear and worry shot through him, how could he have let himself get so distracted?

"How is it that you still haven't gotten the hint? I want you to. Leave. Me. Alone."

He waved off her request and she grind her teeth at his dismissal, "Yeah, yeah that's fine look I'm looking for…"

"I don't care what you're looking for! It's obviously not here so how about you go along your merry way so that I can get on with my existence?"

He groaned in frustration, "Look I'm just… Can you just tell me if you've seen a polar…"

She interrupted him with a loud long whistle. He had to cover his ears.

When she finished he looked at her bewildered, "What the hell was that for? What kind of ridiculous lung capacity do you have that you can whistle and shatter windows?!"

She smirked at him, he felt goose bumps crawl up his skin. Not because she looked adorable, which she did, but because she seemed far too pleased with herself for his own good.

She glanced at something behind him and he felt a warm huff of air on his head. He gulped and turned slowly to see what was behind him. He looked up into the eyes of a giant polar bear dog.

He held his head higher as small sparks of electricity ran through the tips of his fingers.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he heard her call from behind him, "She faster than you are, don't worry she won't hurt you unless you try to attack her… or unless I say so."

"Friend of yours?" he called back to her.

"Best friend. I'd like to introduce you to Naga, Naga meet the perv who was spying on me."

Mako heard Naga growl deep within her chest, Mako put out his electricity. He didn't want to give the massive, feral animal even the slightest suggestion of violence.

"I wouldn't say I was spying on you."

"No you were spying on me."

Naga growled again but this time she curled her lip to reveal a giant canine. That was when Mako realized that blood covered her muzzle, he looked down and saw that blood matted her fur and her paws too.

"She's covered in blood, why is she covered in blood?" he had to yell so she could hear his voice. She heard the panic in his voice but she misinterpreted it.

"She's covered in blood because she killed something and then ate it. You know she might still be hungry you better get out of here if she's in the mood for sightseeing firebenders with no sense of boundaries."

He snarled and turned away from Naga fear for Baozi overwhelming any sense of self-preservation. He jumped down into the lagoon and stalked towards her. She stood her ground and raised her head as he stood toe to toe with her.

"What. Does. She. Eat?"

"Why do you care?"

He snarled again but instead of raising his voice he got very, very calm, "Answer my question."

She looked up at him, he could see her deliberating. He wasn't sure what conclusion she reached but she answered his question without malice, "Fish, lemming-rabbits, sometimes I give her carrots as a treat. They're good for her teeth."

He pointed back towards Naga, "That much blood didn't come from a lemming-rabbit."

"_I_ feed her fish and lemming-rabbits, when she hunts she goes after otter penguins or turtle-seals. She's not picky, I've even seen her tear into a beached whale-shark."

"Have you ever seen her eat a reptile?"

She furrowed her brow in confusion, "There aren't reptiles in the Northern or Southern Water Tribes."

Her eyes flicked back up at Naga, she paused and squinted, "What does she have on her head?"

Mako turned around and saw Baozi's little head resting on top of Naga. He exhaled a deep sigh of relief and quickly scaled up the side of the glacier. She followed him but used waterbending to get to the top with far more grace than he managed.

"Baozi come here." He held his arms open for her and she scampered down Naga's neck and landed face first in the snow.

He grinned partly in relief and partly in amusement. He picked her up and she curled around his neck, burrowing herself partly in his jacket and partly under his scarf. He felt the warmth of fire bloom inside his stomach, the warmth crawled up his chest and he exhaled warm air on Baozi's face, she twitched her whiskers in response and dug her head under his scarf.

"Is that a bearded snake lizard?" the girl asked scratching Naga's head, "I'm sure she's fine, she probably kept warm in Naga's fur." Naga nuzzled her head and left a trail of blood on her cheek. "Oh good the blood's still fresh. It's so difficult to get dried blood out of her fur, it makes her fur all matted."

"Yeah I imagine that's a huge problem for you." Mako said sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes at him, which had a greater impact when blood smeared her cheek.

Her soft waves had dried into tangles. Blood covered her cheek and stained what little clothes she was wearing. She was pouting in derision while her best friend, a massive polar bear dog, was splashing in the lagoon beneath him. She seemed beautifully savage, if he walked away now and went straight to bed he could almost convince himself she had been a dream. But he wasn't planning on walking away.

"You never told me how you can withstand freezing temperatures dressed like that." He nodded towards her lack of clothing.

She looked down and sighed, "Look, whatever your name is, it's been real great meeting you," She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, she slid her hand down his back and she guided him in the opposite direction, "And if you want you can tell all your friends about how you hung out with a half-naked princess, I'll even wave to you if I see you on the street but I'd very much like it if you were gone now."

His eyes widened when he heard her say princess. He hadn't seen Princess Korra up close, when she first arrived he could barely make her out from a distance but he was told that she was a beautiful waterbending prodigy.

"Princess? Princess Korra?"

She sighed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her palm, "What is it now?"

He looked down and saw the high quality of her clothes, had he really been so blinded by his attraction to her?

He sighed and dropped his head, "You're the Princess and I'm an idiot."

She squinted at him, "Yeeeah… both are true."

Korra turned her head at the sound of an oncoming snowmobile, "Oh no, it's my dad."

"You mean the Chieftain of the Water tribe?"

"Yes, and he will kill us if he sees us like this." She grabbed the collar of his jacket and brought herself up toward his face, "I am a lost cause but there's still hope for you."

"What?"

"I'll distract him, you run." She let go of collar and spun him around she tried to push him but he wouldn't move, "Go, run, fly like the wind man!" She was using her shoulder to try to push him forward and he was leaning back against her when Tonraq came to a stop beside them. Korra sagged against him and he stood up straight and turned towards the Chieftain. She slouched and dropped her head as Mako stuck out his hand to greet her father.

"It's a pleasure to see you again sir."

Her head perked up and she looked between the two of them in confusion.

"The pleasure is mine, I see you've had the opportunity to meet my daughter."

Tonraq looked at Korra and her eyes darted between Mako and her dad, "Uh… we weren't formally introduced."

"Well then allow me to do the honor, Avatar Mako this is my daughter Korra. Korra meet the new Avatar."

Mako watched as Korra's jaw dropped in shock and then cringed in embarrassment, by the time she had grasped his hand she had gotten over self-loathing and moved into 'not impressed'.

Tonraq look at them amused as he watched their interaction, "Let me guess, you interrupted her practice and she bit your head off?" Tonraq asked Mako with sympathy.

Mako nodded, "I was looking for my dragon. She ran off after Naga."

"Well if your dragon's missing we have to find her, a reptile wouldn't last long in the southern wilds."

Baozi stuck her head out from his inside his jacket and he scratched the top of her head.

"I appreciate the offer Chieftain Tonraq but it's alright I found her already."

"Technically Naga found her." Korra interjected.

"Well technically she ran off because of Naga."

"Maybe you should train your dragon better."

"Maybe you should keep your dog on a leash."

"Hey! Naga's not the one who ran off, maybe _you_ should keep your dragon on a leash!"

They had turned towards each other and were stepping closer and closer to each other while their voices grew louder and louder. Tonraq put a hand on Korra's shoulder and pressed down silently commanding Korra to stand down. She stepped back and straightened her shoulders looking regal and passive. Mako tried to follow her lead but he didn't have as much success comporting himself as Korra had. Instead of regal and passive he went for apathetic which could manage with relative ease.

"Korra perhaps you could show the Avatar around, I'm sure he hasn't been able to do much sight-seeing considering he's been in constant training since he got here."

Korra looked at her father horrified, "I don't think that's such a good…"

"That sounds wonderful." Maybe it was selfish of him but he wanted to see her again.

She gave him a tight smile, "Alright then let me know when you have a free day I'll be happy to show you around Avatar."

He cringed internally, how did she manage to make a term of honor sound so condescending?

Korra and Tonraq stood next to each other and watched the Avatar walk back towards the town.

"The Avatar's a good ally to have," Tonraq spoke without turning towards Korra, "especially for the future leader of the Water Tribe."

Korra nodded, "I know,"

Tonraq patted her back, "Try not to antagonize him too much Korra," he turned around and picked up her dress, "and don't let your pride give you hypothermia." He tossed the dress in her face. She caught it and gave him a look of feigned offense.

"I am an Ice Princess," She said pulling the dress over her head, "I do not freeze I do the freezing."

Tonraq laughed, "Yeah okay Ice Princess, you ready for tonight?"

She scoffed, "Tonight is the very least of my concerns."

"The first one being giving the Avatar a tour of the southern water tribe?"

Korra knew her father. He was just as stubborn as she was and she knew if she got pouty he would merely dig in his heels and she'd be shackled to the Avatar for the rest their stay. She had to manage this situation with delicacy.

"Well sort of, I mean I've only been to the South a few times and it's always been because of political reasons never just for vacation. Other than a tour of the palace I don't really see what I could show him."

"Well then you could start there. Take him on a tour of the palace during tonight's dinner. Then perhaps later on this week you can take him to that sushi place you like, the one on the water."

The moment Tonraq turned away Korra gagged and slouched against Naga in defeat. Tonraq mounted his snow mobile and started the engine.

"Cheer up kid," he yelled over his shoulder, "Consider this your first diplomatic mission."

Her dad rode off on his snowmobile meaning he was leaving her to her own devices until tonight.

Korra dug her head into Naga's fur and groaned. She felt Naga's cold wet nose nudging her shoulder, she turned her head and snuggled Naga's cheek, "I don't think I'm cut out for this Chieftain of the Water Tribe stuff." Naga whined and pushed her a little.

Korra patted her neck, "I'd be happy if I could just see a probending match at least once. Dad barely lets me leave the palace I don't think he'd ever let me go to republic city."

Korra had unsaddled Naga so that she could hunt unencumbered, she reached for her harness and started to saddle her again while she spoke, "What am I gonna do about this Avatar guy huh Naga? I don't wanna babysit some presumptuous dignitary that's been told all his life what a special snowflake he is. The nerve of that guy, I can't believe he was just watching me while I was bending. It didn't occur to him that maybe I'm out in the middle nowhere because I might want some privacy?

"And he blamed you for his stupid dragon getting lost. What kind of idiot takes an untrained, white, baby dragon to the middle of a frozen tundra? He got damn lucky you found her. She's white, she camouflaged with everything around her! He didn't even say thank you, what an ox-moose's ass. Ugh."

Korra finished saddling Naga and swung herself unto her, "You know what Naga let's forget about that jerk you wanna go for a run girl?"

The moment Korra said run Naga was off and Korra let herself get lost, exhilarated the run. She would deal with the Avatar later.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Korra walked into the ballroom of the Southern Water tribe palace. Everything was blue or shades of blue. The walls were blue, the clothing was blue, even the fucking napkins were blue. It was like people were afraid they were going to forget they were in the Water Tribe. Korra's eyes scanned the room, it was blue as far as she could see.

She craved color she wanted to see the reds of the Fire Nation, the greens of the Earth Kingdom, the yellow and orange of the Air acolytes. She wanted to learn about all people. She wanted to go to their lands and learn from their bending. She wanted to go somewhere, anywhere that wasn't the Water Tribe. She wanted to break something, she wanted to hit something. She wanted to run away and go to Republic City and punch people professionally.  
"Where is this avatar guy?" she grumbled to herself.  
"You're looking for the avatar?"

Korra turned around and saw dark-haired boy with green eyes, he wore Earth Kingdom clothing and had three different appetizers in each hand.  
"I know the avatar." he spoke while he was chewing.

"You do?"

He swallowed before he spoke again, "I'm his younger brother. He got stuck training with his water bending master. He's not allowed to leave until he finishes some exercise or something I don't know. You need me to get a message to him?"

"No it's alright." He turned away from her and she felt embarrassed that she hadn't greeted herself properly, "I'm Korra by the way." When she spoke he turned back to her in surprise.

"Oh, uh…Bolin," he wiped his hand on his shirt before he reached out to shake her hand, "Sorry I'm just not used to people caring about who I am especially not someone as beautiful as you"

Korra felt herself blush at his compliment, "What do you mean? Don't people introduce themselves to you?"

"No I mean they do but they usually care more about my brother. I mean he's the Avatar! I just come to these things for the food."

Korra look at his plate and smiled "You my friend are talking to the right person"

"I am!" He nodded enthusiastically, slowly he realized what he was agreeing to and his brows furrowed in confusion, "I am?"

Korra nodded and grab two plates off passing waiters she nodded towards him motioning him to follow her. She guided him to a table towards the edge of the room and sat with her back towards the crowd to keep people from noticing her.

He sat across from her and looked at her expectantly, "Okay… what are we doing?"

She leaned forward and looked him dead in the eyes, "I know we just met but I need your complete and total trust."

He didn't break eye contact as he nodded, "Complete and total trust, yeah I can do that."

She held up her index finger and then pointed to the plates in front of her, "Watch carefully." He's eyes followed her hands and he slowly leaned in closer and closer as she pour some purple liquid into a bowl of some unidentified fish with tentacles.

He held his breath and stared, after a moment he spoke without taking his eyes off the bowl, "Was something supposed to- Woah my god it moved!" He jumped backwards as the tentacles started squirming. He looked up at her with wide eyes, "Did you just perform necromancy or something?" he spoke is a loud hush.

Korra laughed and Bolin felt he's heart lurch. He wanted to hear her laugh again and a hundred times more.

"Relax it's still very much dead, but now you eat it."

His eyebrows shoot up, "You want me to eat that? It's still moving!"

She handed him a pair of chopsticks, "Total trust."

He nodded, "Yeah okay I can do this." He grabbed the chopsticks and slammed them into the plate trying to pick up a tentacle. They kept squirming out of his way, he grunted in frustration and stabbed a tentacle through with a chopstick.

He brought the wiggling tentacle eye level and stared at it for a moment. He closed he's eyes and held his breath, bracing himself. He opened his mouth and the tentacle brushed his lower lip, he dropped the chopstick and shook his head, "Nope, nope I can't do this."

"Complete trust Bolin!" Korra said picking up the fallen chopstick.

"I do trust you I'm just weak!"

She put her elbow on the table and held the writhing tentacle out towards him, "I was 9 when I first discovered the greatest combination of food in the history of food. I am sharing my secrets with you but if you can't appreciate them…"

"Wait!" Bolin grabbed Korra's free hand she looked down confused but he brought her chin up and looked her in the eye.

"I trust you but I need your help"

Mako walked into the large hall and scanned the room. He told himself that he was looking for Bolin but he found himself wondering where a princess would be in a room full of stiffs. He saw Tonraq standing next to his brother at the center of the room and he figured that was a good a place to look for Bolin as any.

He made his way through the crowd he heard the sound of someone burping loudly. Mako groaned internally,he recognized the sound of Bolin's burp anywhere. The first burp was followed by a louder burp and then another still louder burp. What the hell was Bolin doing? As he got closer to the edge of the room he spotted Bolin and saw him laughing. For all Bolin's lack of propriety Mako was at least relieved he never had to worry about whether not his brother was making friends. People inherently liked Bolin, people didn't like Mako they desired his regard. Which was different, it made for more sycophants and less friends.

Mako struggled to see who Bo was talking to but the crowd got in his way. He tried to squeeze in through people when a woman stepped in his path. He stopped abruptly in front of her.

"Varrick is requesting an audience." She said in a monotone voice.

"Who?"

She pointed behind him and he turned around. He saw someone who was surrounded by people and was gesticulating wildly. Varrick caught his eye and motioned him forward, he felt the woman behind him push him towards Varrick and he figured he might as well get it over with.

Tonraq saw Mako walking towards Varrick and met him half way. Varrick quickly stepped in between the two and put his arm around Mako, "Avatar! Come meet some friends of mine!"

Mako looked at him incredulously, "I haven't even met you yet, you just had your assistant come fetch me."

Tonraq spoke up, "Avatar Mako this is Varrick, Varrick is an inventor. He does importing and exporting in the South Pole."

"Of course he knows who I am!"

"I didn't know who you were." Varrick went on as if Mako hadn't spoken.

"Avatar let me introduce you to Republic City's most famous industrialist and my new partner, Hiroshi Sato!"

Hiroshi bowed politely, "It's an honor Avatar Mako, we're all expecting great things from you."

Mako nodded awkwardly and his eyes shifted to the figure standing next to Hiroshi. She was beautiful, she was stunning, she was without a doubt one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen in his life. She was just as pretty as… Korra. Where the hell was Korra? He turned his head trying to pick her out of the crowd. Hiroshi cleared his throat to get Mako''s attention, "This is my daughter Asami."

He turned back toward Hiroshi and nodded towards Asami, "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Sato."

"Please call me Asami, and the pleasure is all mine, I heard you're from Republic City as well."

Mako fought the urge to search for Korra. He knew better than to want her, she was a princess and he was a street urchin who happened to be able to bend all four elements. A relationship with her was impossible, it was impractical, and Asami seemed really nice.

"Yeah I am."

"Water tribe food is unbelievable but there's nothing like the greasy food trucks in Republic City right?"

"Yeah without the risk of Salmonella food just doesn't taste the same."

"Well what's life without a little danger?" she gave him a coy smile and he found himself liking her more and more.

"You should meet my daughter Asami," Tonraq said interrupting their mild flirtation, "She's around your age I'm sure the two of you have a lot in common."

"I think that's a lovely idea, Asami hasn't had the opportunity to make very many friends since we've been traveling so much lately." Hiroshi said responding to Tonraq.

"I'll make sure to introduce you to Korra before the end of the night." Tonraq nodded towards Asami and she gave him an awkward smile.

"Great friends all around!" Varrick yelled suddenly, "Now Avatar I have this brilliant idea, they're called movers…"

Mako looked over Varrick's shoulder and saw his brother leaving the ballroom with someone. A female someone. Mako was both surprised and impressed. She turned around and he could see her face. Korra. Bolin was leaving the party with Korra.

Varrick was still speaking, though Mako had tuned him out long ago, he interrupted whatever Varrick was saying and dismissed himself politely.

Korra and Bolin had already left when he followed them out of the ballroom. He entered a part of the palace he had never been to before. This was presumably the residential part of the palace. He felt guilty being there but figure he couldn't really get in trouble since he was looking for Korra and Tonraq did say he wanted the two of them to spend time together.

Mako spotted Korra and Bolin standing in front of an opulent staircase underneath a chandelier. Bolin said something and Korra threw her head back and laughed. He could hear her laugh echo across the hall and saw the bright look on Bolin's face. He could imagine what he was feeling, probably pride at the fact that he could make such a beautiful woman laugh. Bolin's face beamed with admiration and longing and Mako felt a shot of jealous spike through him. He stopped before he continued walking towards them. Several things occurred to him at the same time. Firstly exactly how irrational it was to feel so intensely about someone he had only met once, secondly how little right he had to feel jealous, and thirdly how utterly doomed any relationship between him and Korra was.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and tried to shake the feeling of possessiveness. He managed to calm down but he could still feel a cold burning at the pit of his stomach. He needed to bury it. He continued walking toward them. Korra was facing away from him, but as he got closer he saw her stiffen. He chuckled to himself, she might not like him but she certainly responded to him. Bolin looked over Korra's shoulder and waved when he saw his brother. Mako walked up behind Korra and brushed his hand against the small of her back. She instinctively turned towards him as he dropped his hand. She clenched her jaw when she realized how close she was to him but she didn't move away from him.

"Hey Mako glad you could join the party, this is Korra by the away," Bolin said gesturing towards her, "Korra this is my brother Mako."

Korra gave a tight smile and nodded politely, "Avatar Mako."

"We've meet before," He explained to Bolin. He stepped away from her and bowed, "It's a pleasure to see you again Princess Korra."

Out of the corner of his eye Mako saw Bolin's jaw drop. "Princess!" his voice echoed off the cavernous hallway. Mako looked at Korra while Bolin stood incredulous, "How is it that you always manage to forget to mention that you're a princess?" he said accusingly.

Korra rolled her eyes, "Two times is not always, firstly. And secondly, what would you like me to do walk around with a giant sign that says princess?"

Mako shrugged, "A crown would be nice."

Bolin spoke mostly to himself, "You're Princess Korra, like _the_ Princess Korra?! How did I not put this together sooner?"

"A crown," Korra said responding to Mako, "would be antiquated and cumbersome. What about you Mr. Avatar, if I have to wear a crown then shouldn't you carry around a scepter or something?"

"The avatar doesn't need any worldly possessions so I was thinking maybe I'd just set off fireworks every time I walked into a room to announce that I can in fact bend all four elements."

"I can't believe I burped in front of a princess." Bolin mumbled to himself.

"What's your problem?" Korra spoke over Bolin's mumblings.

"What's your problem?" Mako took a step closer to her, his fist clenched at his sides, he grit his jaw and stared down at her. He was so fucking angry, but when he looked at her all he could imagine was fisting his hand in her hair and crushing his lips against hers. Which pissed him off even more.

Bolin stared between the two of them uncomfortably, "Wow so how about everyone just calm down?"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" they yelled in unison. Mako and Korra looked at each other in shock and then rage, "DON'T YELL AT HIM!" they continued in unison, "STOP DOING THAT!"

They turned away from each other in a huff. Bolin cringed and tried to change the subject, "So uh… Korra, I mean Princess Korra… How about we take that tour you were telling me about."

Korra's anger ebbed as she remembered her father's words, she wasn't doing a very good job at making an ally of the avatar. '_He was the one started it' _she thought to herself feeling her anger renew. She crushed her anger, he was nothing. She couldn't let him get to her. She needed to start treating him like any other bureaucrat. She nodded to herself, he would not get under her skin again.

She turned towards Bolin and gave him a smile to ease some of his discomfort.

"You can just call me Korra if you want Bolin and I would be happy to give you and your brother a tour of the palace."

Bolin grinned at her and then poked his brother in the back, "You hear that Mako? The princess wants to give us a tour," Bolin started poking Mako harder and harder when he didn't turn around, "Aren't you happy Mako, isn't this great Mako?"

Mako shrugged Bolin off of him and straighten himself, he nodded towards Korra, "A tour of the palace sounds great."

"Super." Korra said derisively as she turned on her heels and walked up the grand staircase.

Mako gave a deep sigh and went to follow her before Bolin stopped him, "Hey so I couldn't help noticing the ridiculous levels of hostility between you and Korra, you wanna maybe fucking cut that shit out?"

Mako looked at his brother outraged and pointed towards Korra, "She started it!"

Bolin smacked his brother's arm down and shook him, "I don't care who started it she's the freaking princess try showing some respect." He spoke in a

"Well I'm the freaking avatar maybe _she _should show _me _some respect."

Korra reached the top of the stairs and turned to look at the two brothers arguing. She cleared her throat and they both turned towards her, "If you two could stop talking about me like I'm not in the room we could get started with the tour."

Bolin gave her an apologetic smile and scratched the back of his head as he followed her up the stairs. Mako rolled his eyes but followed his brother.

Korra spouted off a series of facts on the southern water tribe palace. How many stairs it has, how many windows it has, how many doors it has. She walked them through many elegantly decorated rooms that contained Water Tribe art work that ranged from antiques to paintings to statues to tapestries, she pointed to all of them and explained their history in depth.

Mako wondered how she had managed to memorize all these facts. He thought maybe she had given this tour often because if she hadn't then she had gone through great lengths just for them. Or maybe she just didn't want there to be a moment of awkward silence. She lead them toward a massive balcony called Kuruk's balcony that over looked a large courtyard.

"The courtyard has many chambers which connect to corridors that lead all throughout the palace," she explained, "From the ballroom, which we just came from, to the grand dining room, to the throne room."

"Do any of them lead to your room?" Bolin asked interrupting her.

She shook her head hesitantly, "No the residential rooms are on the third and fourth floors."

"Can we see your room?" Mako said sticking his hands in his pockets. She looked up at him disdainfully through her eyelashes and he couldn't help but smirk in response. He got entirely too much pleasure in pissing her off.

She gritted her teeth and opened her mouth to respond when a servant came rushing out, "Princess Korra!" He panted out of breath, "Your father sent me to find you. He told me to tell you that the guest are sitting to eat now and that he would like you to begin your performance."

Korra's eyes widen, "The performance, I completely forgot, Uru will you please lead the Avatar and his brother back to the ballroom please I have to go get ready."

Uru nodded and bowed, "Avatar Mako, Bolin if you could please follow me."

Bolin looked at Korra and winked, "Thanks for the tour Korra."

She smiled and nodded and then frowned when she looked at Mako, "Can't wait to see the performance Princess."

He walked away before she had a chance to give a witty response. "Can't wait to see the performance Princess." She mimicked under her breath. She huffed and walked toward the dressing room to change out of her dress.

She had told herself that she wouldn't let him get under her skin but through the entire tour she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. She tried to make as little eye contact as she could possibly manage. Somehow she had conjured up every bit of history she had ever been told about every relic in the southern palace. She had no idea where some of this stuff had come from but every time she thought about how heavy the silence would feel if she didn't continue speaking she remembered a new fact.

She walked into the dressing room and two handmaids were already there waiting to do her hair and makeup. Korra let herself get undressed and made up. There wasn't much to do, she had choreographed the routine to emphasis the bending not herself. They put her in a billowy white dress and let her hair down. It was long, down to her waist. She rubbed a strand from the end of her hair between her fingertips.

She wanted to cut it. It was a hassle and it got in her way. She had such pride in the responsibilities of being a princess and it always felt like being a princess meant she had to be beautiful. She had been told the story of Princess Yue a hundred times, the tremendous sacrifice she made not only for her people but for the whole world. When she looked at paintings of Yue and saw how beautiful she was it made Korra feel like she had to be beautiful too. So much of her beauty was wrapped up in her hair. The handmaids misted water into her curls and Korra imagined if Mako would it if she cut her hair.

She froze when she realized what she was thinking. Rage quickly replaced shock. Why the hell was she thinking of him! He didn't matter! His opinion on her hair didn't matter! She needed to cut him out of her brain. She felt her heart thumping in her chest, she realized it was utterly irrationally for her to be having such a strong reaction to a total stranger. She wrung her hands in her lap and she felt her handmaid Norakya still her hands with her own.

"Princess are you alright? It isn't like you to be nervous." Norakya was 10 years older than Korra but she was one of the kindest people Korra knew. She wished she had her natural gentleness, Korra had always felt far more like a warrior than a princess, Norakya seemed like she would be far more suited for the title of princess then herself.

Korra smiled and commanded her heart to be still, "I'm fine Norakya, or I will be once this is over.

Behind her Norakya's younger cousin Shaida stepped away from Korra's hair and admired her work, "Well you're ready, at least your hair and makeup is. Do you want us to begin the performance Princess?"

They looked at her expectantly and Korra nodded, "Yes please, I'll be out in just a moment."

They nodded and took their leave. Korra put on the four water skins filled with dyes to color the water and looked in the mirror. Started shutting off her mind. She needed to exist only in her body and the exertion from the dance would help with that.

She breathed in and stepped out of the dressing room. Norakya and Shaida had dimmed the lights and were bending a continuous stream of water down the staircase that lead into the ballroom. Korra nodded at them, they turned some of the water into steam. A heavy beat thrummed and Korra made her way down the stairs quickly and inconspicuously. The moment she reached the bottom and the music grew softer, she opened her water skins and burst the dyes from her pouches at the music became suddenly loud and chaotic. She moved in a series of leaps and spins bending the water with her as she went. The tricky part was in allowing the different colors to interact but never blend. If she didn't handle the water carefully the colors would blend into an ugly brown. The point of this dance was to honor the spirit lights in the Northern Water Tribe. Spirit lights which had been absent in the Southern Water Tribe for almost two hundred years. Absolute focus was required in paying tribute to these beautiful light.

The flurry of motions slowed and she let the mist play through the crowd. She tried to make her exit as the guest were distracted by the lights. As she was exiting the ballroom she felt her back hit something. She spun around suddenly and saw Varrick standing with open arms.

"Princess Korra that was beautiful! We should talk about putting you in one of my movers!"

The lights went on and everyone turned their head to Korra's positon. She looked around startled prayed, in vain, that no one would see her. The crowd paused for a moment and then burst into applause. People swarmed her clapping and praising her. She smiled and nodded graciously thanking everyone. The faces blurred the in masses but she found herself looking for one face in particular. She spotted red between peoples' heads and jumped around to get a better view she saw Mako standing next to her father towards the front of the room. She caught his eye right before he turned away from her. She felt hurt and disappointed and then indignant at the fact that she felt hurt and disappointed. She shook her head and focused on the crowd surrounding her. She shook peoples' hands and signed autographs, she stood for pictures and carried armfuls of bouquets. The crowd felt never ending, but it couldn't be never ending there were only about 500 people at the banquet, how long could saying hello to 500 people take? She soon found that the answer to her question was forever.

At the point where she had given up hope that she would ever get a chance to sit and eat something she felt someone come up behind her draping a robe around her shoulders. She turned and saw Norakya and Shaida standing behind her.

"Make a path people!" She heard a male voice behind Norakya and Shaida yell out. She turned around and saw Bolin pushing people aside to let her through. Norakya and Shaida helped, between the three of them she managed to leave the ballroom. When the crowd was gone Korra gave a deep sigh of relief. She shrugged the robe off, she saw herself in a mirror in the hallway. The backless white dress was soaking wet and clung to her almost indecently. She ran her fingers through her hair and made a quick swiping motion down her body waterbending all the water out of her hair and dress.

"Your performance was remarkable princess." Shaida spoke holding her hands to her chest and smiling at Korra.

"Yeah you totally blew my mind," Bolin said coming up besides Shaida, "you burst in with the colors all like…" he made a series of gestures accompanied by sound effects, "and then the water was all like whoosh and swish."

She chuckled, "Thanks Bolin." Her eyes traveled up over Bolin's shoulder as she saw Mako coming into the room with her father.

"That wasn't bad in there." He said leaning against a column.

Korra squinted at him and looked at Bolin, "What's it take to impress this guy?"

"What? I said 'not bad'." Mako pushed off the column, "You know what, it's getting late. I think I'm gonna turn in. You kids have fun. Nice to see you again, Princess Korra." He gave a two finger salute and walked away.

Korra put her hands on her hips, "Yeah it's been a real pleasure Avatar Mako."

"I'll see you back at the White Lotus camp bro." Mako called out over his shoulder before he left.

Korra turned to Bolin, "White Lotus camp, isn't that where Katara lives?"

Bolin nodded, "Yep we just moved in there, nothing too fancy but it has a great view."

"Speaking of the White Lotus camp," Tonraq said stepping forward, "you'll begin your healing lessons with Katara tomorrow. She wants you there at dawn."

Korra nodded, "I have to get changed. Thanks for helping me get out of there Bolin."

Bolin smiled, "Sure of course Korra I'll see you later."

He walked back into the ballroom and Korra moved to leave with Shaida and Norakya following her. As she past her father he put a hand on Korra's shoulder. Norakya and Shaida looked back questioningly, "Go on ahead girls I have to speak with Korra for a second."

The girls bowed and left the two of them alone.

"So I see you attempt to be friends with the avatar is going well."

"Dad-" Korra began defensively but he held up a hand to silence her.

"No it's alright Korra I don't expect you to force a friendship but I do except you to be cordial."

Korra looked down and nodded, "Yes Dad."

"Especially now that you two will be seeing each other a lot more."

Korra looked up at him confused, "What do you mean?"

"You and the avatar will both be training at the White Lotus camp."

"Yes but we'll have different masters, it's entirely possible that we could go whole weeks without seeing each other."

Tonraq nodded doubtfully, "I'm sure that would be the case if Master Loreik didn't explicitly ask for your assistance in training Avatar Mako."

Korra's eyes widen, "Uhh why would he want me to help teach the avatar waterbending?"

"Because you're one of the most gifted waterbenders in both the north and south poles. He feels that the avatar would benefit from sparring with someone as talented as you, there are certain things your masters can't teach you. Sometimes you have to learn from your peers."

"Since when are the avatar and I peers?"

"He's only a year older than you Korra, like I said there's no need to force a friendship but you must at the very least be polite. This isn't an impossible task Korra you've succeeded in being civil to far more unctuous people."

Korra slumped, crossed her arms and pouted, "I know Dad but he just bugs me."

Tonraq put his arm on Korra's shoulder reassuringly he squeezed affectionately, "I know sweetheart, but get over it."

Korra rolled her eyes and followed Shaida and Norakya.

Senna came up besides Tonraq and he put his arm around her waist. She nuzzled her head into his chest and smiled at where Korra exited.

"I wonder what'll happen between those two." She wondered aloud.

Tonraq sighed, "I have no idea, I'm just glad I'm not 16 anymore."

Senna laughed, "It wasn't so bad. We had some fun."

Tonraq smiled down at his wife and nodded, "Now it's her turn."


End file.
